Amma's Cuisine: Traditional Sri Lankan & International Recipes and Island Wedding Story
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Amma's Cuisine - Lilanie Kadirgamar Geiger
AMMA’S CUISINE
Traditional Sri Lankan & International Recipes and Island Wedding Story
Recipes and Stories by Lilanie Kadirgamar Geiger
Food Photography by Luxshmanan Nadaraja
Copyright © 2015 Lilanie B Geiger
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of both publisher and author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.
ISBN: 978-0-9966-0891-6 (sc)
ISBN: 978-0-9966-0890-9 (e)
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.
Pizana Group LLC rev. date: 9/15/2015
AMMA’S CUISINE
Traditional Sri Lankan & International Recipes and Island Wedding Story
Recipes and Stories by Lilanie Kadirgamar Geiger
Food Photography by Luxshmanan Nadaraja
Untitled-1.pngSRI LANKA
Officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in the northern Indian Ocean off the coast of South India in South Asia. Known until 1972 as Ceylon, Sri Lanka has maritime borders with India to the northwest and the Maldives to the southwest.
0011417302.tifMy mother’s sister Sukaniya listening to the musicians playing at dawn.
Dedication
This Cookbook is a Special Dedication to my mother Vasanthica, who has provided me with the greatest Inspiration – to honor and treasure her memory with this cook book. Her loving, generous and tireless energy, coupled with her intelligence and unmatched capabilities in the kitchen, makes me proud and privileged to share her unique talent with all: whether side-by-side, across the country, or around the world. A mother who gave her all, without question, to family, friends, and strangers alike.
0021417302.tifBride being dressed by her adored Aunt Rajeswari.
Acknowledgements
T his cookbook has been a project of mine that has been 12 years in the making. But as the saying goes all good things take time
. It all started with my dear friend Jose Andrade. I articulated to him my passion for cooking that I acquired from my Mother, and the idea of transferring my parents Island Wedding
into a theme for my cookbook. Jose began my project with some cookbook software package he installed on my computer. Next we took some archaic digital camera shots of my dishes in our attempt to create this Island Wedding Story - Cookbook. He painstakingly helped me with several annoying tasks such as the glossary, temperature conversion, pagination and the like. The final draft was edited by him, and I am forever indebted to him for making my dream come true. Thank you, Jose for all your help and support.
I showed my initial draft to my first cousin Radhika Philip. She loved the concept and advised me to take this book to another level by having it done by professionals. This advice resulted in hiring a graphics designer, professional photographers and printers. Thank you Radhi for the best advice a cousin and friend could give.
Writing does not come easy for me as I am more mathematically inclined. So I simply wrote all my thoughts down for the introduction and description of the Island Wedding Story. I then shared it with my dearest aunt and close friend June Somasunderam Chanmugam. She edited my story and added the much needed historical dates on Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon. She was also a close friend of my mother’s, and her additional insight was invaluable. Thank you Aunty June.
My sister Ramani, the person I could always turn to in good times and bad. We are forever grateful for the love and inspiration taught to us by our parents. She established our family mantra – Love Conquers All
, which is what we attempt to live by daily. I thank you for adding your insight of our mother, and your exceptional writing skills that turned the written portions of this cookbook into a work of Art.
Thank you, Luxshman Nadaraja for the amazing photography that turned this cook book into an exotic depiction of culinary art. Additionally, his wife Nelun Harasgama who’s artistic capabilities produced an amazing presentation for the food layout and design.
Jim Darling, my Graphic Designer who assumed he could take his time with completing the design because I took five years to complete the recipes, did an exceptional job. Thank you so much Jim, I could not have done it without you.
Thank you, Rebekah Pizana for your review and insightful and creative input.
Lastly, I would like to thank my dearest friend David Greenhill. With his faith and confidence in my cooking abilities, he embarked on the task of publishing my cookbook. He enabled me to be a visionary, and taught me how to reach for the stars. I thank you David, from the bottom of my heart.
0041417302.tifThe groom’s sister Iswari arrives with her son, Dayalan the page boy, to deliver the Koorai
sari on a silver tray.
Introduction
O ur story begins in Sri Lanka (formally known as Ceylon). It is an island nation in the form of a tear drop that lies just beneath the southern tip of India. It has often been called the pearl of the Indian Ocean. There begins our roots as the Tamil speaking community of Sri Lanka, who are predominantly located in the North of the country. The island, small as it may be, acquired an importance far in excess of its size as it lay on the trade route between Europe and Asia. It has been and continues to be valued, not only for its position but also for its Spice Gardens, its tropical beauty, and, above all, for its ‘serendipity’, a word coined from one of its old names, Serendib. In addition to playing host to early Arab traders from the 8 th Century, it was invaded by the Cholas from South India, and in more recent times has been colonized, from the 16 th Century on, by the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British, finally gaining Independence, in 1948 at the conclusion of WWII.
The influence of visitors and colonizer alike is to be found in the physical characteristics of its people. This is further exhibited in the country’s languages, dress, religions, cultures and, last but not least, the influence on food. On the whole we are a somewhat polyglot lot, due to the influence of former colonizers. You will find evidence of this influence on food in this ‘cookbook’ which you may possibly recognize, and which I will acknowledge throughout the book.
Following in a long tradition of mothers everywhere, and to us as children, a tradition we saw as being particularly strong in our family, as my grandmother and my mother like her, loved to cook. It was one of the ways in which they demonstrated their undeniable love for us. While they cooked for the sheer pleasure that cooking gave them, above all else they cooked for the love of their family. Our earliest and most enduring memories center on food. Our grandmother, not to be outdistanced, would see to it that she had us at her house for lunch every day. To my mother fell the privilege of providing the remainder of our meals, which, though she might not have prepared them herself, was carefully supervised